


High On Flying

by PetrichorFilledSkies



Series: Achievement Hunter's life flipped upside down [4]
Category: AH - Fandom, Achievement Hunter, Magic Powers - Fandom, RT - Fandom, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Magic AU, Multi, WARNING - SOME MILD GORE, achievement hunter - Freeform, hyrbid au, kinda sickfic?, there is a hospital scene if you don't like that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetrichorFilledSkies/pseuds/PetrichorFilledSkies
Summary: Jeremy’s head shot up from looking at the camera, wildly alarmed. He knew what that sound was.That was a gunshot.Not a second after he realised this, he shot his eyes back over to Gavin, whose his eyes met his. A small tuft of feathers had exploded off his wing, jerking Gavin to the side. Just as the blood started to appear, the world began to pick up the pace again and Gavin’s wings folded in on themselves, his body crumpling like paper, doubling over like a bird that had just been shot.Gravity did its job, and Gavin started plummeting like a stone.~The crew go out hiking to film some fun flying adventures, but get a bit more than they asked for. Thankfully, everyone is OK.
Series: Achievement Hunter's life flipped upside down [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600756
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	High On Flying

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR ANYONE:  
> \- Swearing  
> \- A gunshot (does not go into much detail)  
> \- Blood (not a whole lot though)  
> \- Pain / whump / very mild vomiting  
> \- Hospital scene  
> Honestly sounds much worse than it actually is, but I wanted to warn you all nonetheless. You will be glad to know everything turns out fine. :)

It was 1:30 on a Friday afternoon, sun shining, springtime breezes flowing, and for once the Achievement Hunter boys were outside, enjoying the freedom of not being cooped up in their office all day. They were on a filming expedition, going hiking as a group to the outdoor wilderness a few hours away from their usual work. With the weather being so sublime, and the gentle sunlight creating a gorgeous backdrop for any scene, the boys knew it would make a brilliant video as something a bit different on the channel. They carpooled in two cars, filming the hysterics that ensue when one person is given the AUX cord and they play music from Frozen (it was Geoff's choice, and you’d be wrong if you said that they didn’t all flawlessly sing Let It Go, and that it wasn’t truly something awful). Trevor is proud of Geoff’s music choice.

They’ve not even made their way out of the parking lot before Gavin is ripping his shirt off and pulling his wings through the singlet underneath, shooting into the sky with the joy of a bird hybrid who has just finished shedding season. For once, instead of his feathers being a white-peachy colour, they were a striking gold, like the feathers were the mineral itself. Gavin adored them, and the office enjoyed seeing a newer cheerful form of his bird-like nature.

“Don’t go far!” Jack shouted, having not even shut his door yet. “We’re vlogging this, remember?”

“Oh yeah, sorry!” Gavin replied, circling the group from in the sky. “Give me two more minutes and I’ll come down.”

He flew circles a few more times, before disappearing out of view over the trees of the nature reserve. Not a minute or two later, he made his way back, and reluctantly came down. With the gracefulness of a pigeon (not graceful at all) he landed behind the group’s cars and ruffled himself happily.

“There’s a nice path with a really good view if we take the left way,” He started, and eagerly waited for Jack to pull open the map of the reserve. “It’s about here,” He pointed to the map. “And it’ll be a nice place to take a selfie. It’s like a complete drop-off cliff edge, so we could even film some of my flying from an above angle, which I’d love to see.”  
“That’s actually a really good idea!” Trevor jumped in, his water bottle hovering effortlessly in the air. “We could make a cool video with that.”

“And we can show off your cool-ass new feathers.” Geoff added, nudging Gavin’s gold wings. “I’m seriously jealous.”

“Should we get started, then?” Jeremy asked, locking the car and putting the keys in his pocket. The lads agreed, and made their way into the nature reserve.

~~~~~

“WHAT ARE WE DOIN’, GEOFF?!” Gavin screeched, breaking into strong laughter at the string of startled curses Geoff let out at the noise. He rubbed his face annoyedly, and mischievously ruffled Gavin’s hair to his distaste.

“Gavin, you can’t keep saying that when we’re already filming.” He made a face to the camera in his hand like he was a part of The Office, and Gavin giggled.

“But it’s so funny!”

“You know what else is funny?” Trevor chimed in, his telekinesis holding his backpack in front of him with ease. “Gavin’s face when Geoff makes a big gust of wind as he’s flying.”

Geoff roared with laughter as Gavin squawked in annoyance, flailing his hands around. “It’s not funny!” He pouted. “You’ll make me crash into the ground!”

“And you don’t think Geoff wouldn’t find that hilarious?” Jack joined, laughing as well. “You face-planting would probably make Geoff hyperventilate with laughter.”

“You are _not_ wrong, Jack,” Geoff laughed, and moved the camera in his grip to include the entire group in the shot. “How are we going, by the way? Making much distance? Feeling puffed yet?”

“We’re about four kilometres in.” Jack stated, pointing at the map in his hands. “We’re about to where Gavin said the cliff was, so that’ll be a nice spot to stop for a snack and take some more footage.” His nose subconsciously twitched the whole time he was talking, and a large smile cracked on his face. “It’s so nice here. It smells like heaven with the flowers and there’s so many lovely birds chirping and I think I can hear a creek running a ways off. I’ve barely heard any people at all.”

“Not to mention the weather is literally flawless.” Trevor agreed, and looked over at Geoff. “An absolute miracle, unless you had something to do with it.”

“Fuck no, that’s _way_ too much effort.” Geoff joked, and Trevor laughed. “I can arrange some wind when Gavin’s flying, though.”

“Nooooooooooooo,” Gavin moaned dramatically, and Geoff laughed, the camera shaking in his grip. “No wind unless it’s urgent.”

“Or if I’m bored.”

“Noooooooooooooo!”

~

It was another half hour or so before the lads reached the cliffside, and Geoff flipped out the camera instantly, recording the faces of his astounded friends as they reached their location. The cliffside was a few metres off the path, leaving a small, shaded grassy area between a couple of trees. Out from the cliff, there was a tremendous view of the valley around them, shaded deep greens from the expanse of trees that blanketed the hills. At the bottom of the cliff were more trees, and in the middle seemed a small, deep blue lake, glimmering and hinting at the height of where the lads stood. The group instantly made their way off the path, taking in the glorious sight.

“Look at that!” Jack breathed, his mouth open. “I can see the city from here! Look how far down it is!”

“I told you it was awesome!” Gavin chimed gleefully. “I had thought I’d caught an updraft when I saw how far from the ground I was, but when I realised it was a cliff drop-off I knew it would be a good destination.”  
“I’m actually impressed.” Geoff grinned, nudging Gavin’s shoulder. “Turns out you’re not bird-brained _all_ of the time.”

“Shut up!” Gavin joked, playfully shoving Geoff, and the two made themselves comfortable in the shade by the cliff with the rest of the group. Trevor pulled some snacks out of his bag for the group - carrots and dip for Jack, sesame seed bars for Gavin, protein bars for Geoff and beef jerky for Jeremy. Once he had pulled out some crackers for himself, the group recorded banter and jokes as they chilled, telling fun stories and shared experiences throughout their time at Rooster Teeth. Jack was part way through his story about meeting Gavin for the first time, when he paused, sticking his head up and twitching his nose involuntarily.

“What’s up, Jacky boi?” Gavin questioned gently.

“I can hear people,” Jack replied softly, and smiled. “I can’t quite hear what they’re talking about, but they seem somewhat nearby. Probably somewhere further down the path as it gets a bit denser with bush.”  
“We should jumpscare them!” Gavin burst, eyes wide with mischievous glee.

“Or we can greet them nicely, like decent fucking humans.” Trevor replied, laughing at Gavin’s childishness. “Maybe they’ll know who we are?”

“Oh I _hope_ so!” Jack replied, popping another carrot in his mouth. “It would be so cool to do a bit of fan vlogging too.”

“I could show them something cool!” Gavin replied, pushing up onto his feet, stretching out in the shade. “Maybe something like this~”

He ran at the cliff’s edge and jumped, swinging out for a split moment before dropping and disappearing out of sight, nowhere to be seen beyond the cliff. Even though Geoff had seen it dozens of times, it still made his heart catch in his throat, and he carefully hurried to the cliff’s edge with the camera, watching as Gavin plummeted down. It was only for a second more before he unravelled his wings, hooking the draft around him, and he shot upwards, catching the wind and soaring out over the open air. Geoff swung the camera up as Gavin thrust his wings downward, shooting up to their height, back facing them and golden wings glinting specks of lens flare into the camera. He slowly arced backwards, and gracefully twirled in the air to face them before using his wings to hang in front of the group just off the cliff’s edge. He was grinning from ear to ear, a goofy, cheesy, full-toothed grin that he could never shake from his expression when flying. Geoff grinned behind the camera, watching with pride as the boy in front of him ruffled his hair excitedly.

“How did that look?” He asked breathily, lopsided hair from the wind complimenting his wings that were seemingly glowing from the afternoon sun.

“Gav, that was amazing!” Jack chortled, picking himself form the ground to head a small bit closer to the edge. “Where did you manage to learn that?”

“I practised it a bunch when I was at my family’s farm in the UK last Christmas. When you have such a large, open space, it makes for great practise.”

“That’s gonna look awesome on-camera,” Trevor mused. “Got anything up your sleeve we could film?”

“Heeellll yeah I do!” He cheered, and watched as the other lads grabbed cameras out too. “Ladies, gents, and everybody of every kind on the internet, it’s time for some lame-ass really fun flying tricks!” He laughed to himself before falling backwards, shooting toward the ground before flying back up, spinning around like an air drill until he slowed to a seemingly weightless hang in the air. He then pulled his wings out, continuing upwards in a large loop before performing incredibly speedy sharp turns that had the lads moving their cameras to keep him in frame. He looked one with the air as he flew, like he were born to be soaring rather than walking on the ground. Like he should be singing ‘Still In The Air’ instead of Ryan.

His flying went on for several minutes, the display a remarkable show of both Gavin’s abilities as a bird-hybrid and also the incredible beauty of his wings. He looked like an angel, with his golden hair and golden wings and white singlet, and it brought amusement to Jeremy to know how cheeky said ‘angel’ really was. But it was nice to see Gavin so free (no pun intended) - it wasn’t often at all that they ever got to see Gavin’s flying at any other level than from below, so being able to see his face was a show of how euphoric he was when in the skies. He was constantly grinning, face and body relaxed when gliding, and his eyes were either twinkling with joy or closed in bliss. He looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world, and it brought a smile to Geoff’s face to see him as such.

A few minutes of flying later, Gavin slowed to a halt, hanging out in the middle of the air to face the lads once more. His hair was plastered in all kinds of wild directions, a small sheen of sweat beading on his forehead as his chest heaved in gleeful breaths of air with his adrenalin. He waved to the lads, before putting his hands on hips to help catch his breath.

“Ta-da!” He cheered, still grinning. “How was that?”

“Fucking awesome!” Jeremy cheered, and the lads followed in choruses of their own. Gavin wiggled his hands in front of him cheerfully, obviously chuffed to have people compliment his flying skills.

“Aww, thanks guys! I seriously can’t describe to you how fucking amazing it is flying.” He said, and fixed his hair subconsciously. “It’s like, being on a rollercoaster, but better. It’s so cool.”

“You make it look awesome,” Jack chimed, putting his camera down. “I’m actually jealous.”

“Me too!” Geoff shouted, pouting. “Can you take me for a ride sometime?”

Gavin laughed, short squeaks of amusements escaping his lips. “I don’t think so, Geoffy. That’s not how it works-”

**BANG**.

Gavin was cut off as a loud exploding sound echoed throughout the cliffs suddenly, ringing across the air and bouncing off the cliff walls like an explosion. In jolting shock, Jack dropped to his knees, his rabbit senses firing off all walls in alarm. Jeremy’s head shot up from looking at the camera, wildly alarmed. His heart rate shot through the roof. He knew what that humungous sound was.

That was a gunshot.

Not a second after he realised this, he shot his eyes back over to Gavin, whose his eyes met his. It felt like time stopped, and Jeremy’s heart jumped into his throat. A small tuft of feathers had exploded off his wing, jerking Gavin to the side. Gavin’s eyes became wide in a horror of fear, and his mouth was dropped open. Just as the blood started to appear, the world began to pick up the pace again and Gavin’s wings folded in on themselves, his body crumpling like paper, doubling over like a bird that had just been shot.

Gravity did its job, and Gavin started plummeting like a stone.

Jeremy cried out in shock - Jack’s hands flew to his face. The shock hit them as hard as a brick - Gavin had just been shot, Gavin had just been shot, _Gavin_ had just _been shot_ -

Trevor’s instincts flew into action, and the threw the camera behind him, launching himself at the edge of the cliff. He hit his stomach hard on the ground as his chest skidded out over the edge, and he reached an arm out, watching Gavin fall helplessly to the ground below. His power flooded his bones, surging through his veins in a way he had never felt before - granted, he had never used his telekinesis powers more than just to float several things in the room. He honed in his powers as much as he could, pouring them out his fingertips with such ferocity he could feel his hands burn. He screamed in pure determination and fear, hands clenching over the edge, whole world blue with power.

Gavin started to glow the same colour, and he quickly slowed to a halt.

Trevor screamed in exertion and pain - it was more power than he had ever used and more than he ever hoped he would. The boys froze in shock, eyes wide and bodies tense watching Trevor leap forward over the cliff’s edge. In a whirlwind of strain, Trevor screamed in rage.

“GEOFF!” He shouted, his whole body shaking with exertion of power. “Use your fucking wind!”

Geoff snapped out of his shock, realising how much Trevor was pushing his powers over his limit, and he ran closer to the cliff’s edge, using one hand to grab Trevor’s shirt and the other to curl a wave of air under Gavin. His hands shook as he pulled the wind upward, attempting to ignore the difficulty and strain of lifting an entire person as his veins flooded with fear, head pulsing in the realisation of what had just happened to his boy.

As quick as they could, they brought a curled-up Gavin to their level, and Jeremy and Jack leapt into action, gently grabbing the scrawny lad off of the cushion of wind and bringing him back over to the grass. As soon as Jeremy had Gavin in his arms, Geoff and Trevor collapsed back, heaving air into their lungs as their faces dripped with the sweat of pushing their powers past what their bodies were ready for. Jeremy hurried over to a clear patch in the grass, putting the boy down on his back. Gavin was hyperventilating, his pained cries coming out in short, sharp bursts. His wings wrapped tightly around him, and Jeremy quickly dropped to his knees beside his friend. He gently grabbed his right wing and began pulling it away from his body, unfurling it slowly to reach the damage. The moment his wing moved, Gavin cried out in pain, grabbing Jeremy’s arm with feeble fingers in protest. His eyes were streaming with tears, mouth letting a string of gibberish that told Jeremy that Gavin was already losing his grip. Jack appeared at his side, grabbing his hand away and hushing reassurances to Gavin as Jeremy took more time and care to open his wing. Once he saw the bullet wound, he stopped pulling on the wing, and looked up at Jack, who was already in the process of opening a first aid kit that Jeremy was grateful he had thought to bring.

“Pressure and elevation.” Jack said, pulling a non-adhesive patch out of its cover and pulling a bandage out afterwards. His face was serious, but his eyes were full of fear. “We need to stop the bleeding.” He winced in sympathy for his friend, before putting the pad over Gavin’s wound and pressing down tightly. Gavin screeched, hands flying up but coming short as Jeremy grabbed his hands, squeezing tight. Gavin’s breaths were short and Jeremy had to remind himself to breathe as his emotions were overcome with Gavin’s own - sheer terror, confusion, dizziness and undeniable pain.

As Jack began to wrap the bandage around the wing, thankful it was closer to the bend on the wing than in the middle, Jeremy’s emotional ‘radar’ peaked and he shot his head down to Gavin’s torso.

“Jack, I think he’s injured elsewhere.” His fingers ever-so-gently ran over Gavin’s skin as he started to search for other injuries. When he saw a bloodied shoulder, he knew he had hit the mark. “Gavin’s hurt his shoulder too. Looks like just a graze though.” He reached for the kit and desperately tried to ignore his best friend’s crying as he quickly cleaned and covered the cut. Jack wrapped the bandage one more time, and looked up at Jeremy.

“We need to elevate the wing and we need to get him to a hospital.”

Jeremy nodded, jumping to his feet, heart pounding in his chest. Jack lifted the wing so it was above Gavin’s body, and the young boy sobbed into the ground. His fists were clenched into his shirt, and his knuckles where white.

“It’s OK, Gav, you’re doing really well. Deep breaths.” Jack some calmly to Gavin, using the hand that wasn’t applying pressure to run through his hair. “We’re gonna get you some help, OK?”

“Trevor, We need to get Gavin back to the car.” Jeremy begged, watching Trevor pull himself to his feet, hands shaking. “If I help carry him, can you use your telekinesis so he doesn’t jostle too much?”

“I’ll try my best.” Trevor strained, pulling a still panting Geoff to his feet. “I’ll get him off the ground. Just be ready to catch him. Jack, keep pressure on the wing. If you can, call an ambulance too.”

“Got it.” Jack replied, and the lads circled around Gavin, hearts pounding with fear and adrenalin.

“OK,” Trevor said, hands beginning to glow blue. “Jerem, lift him up on three. One, two, three!”

Jeremy carefully pulled Gavin up into his arms, and Trevor started to lift his weight, breaths becoming huffs as the boy was carefully hovered above the ground. Gavin was still crying, but his breaths were becoming quicker, his cries shorter with each breath. The lads began to run down the path back to the car, all eyes on Gavin and all thoughts on the fear of what could happen. Geoff watched as Jeremy looked back to him, eyebrows furling.

“Geoff-”

“Go without me!” He shot, clenching his fists at his side. “I’m gonna teach the cunts who dare shoot my boy a lesson.” Wind flicked through his hair and tousled his clothes, explaining to Jeremy the severity of those words. He nodded and the group continued on.

“Just… be careful.” He warned, and Geoff nodded. The two turned away from each other and hurried in opposite directions, and Jeremy made sure to ignore the shrill howl of wind from behind him.

As they hurried down the path, Trevor’s hands shook, and his breaths had become sharp, huffing pants. His forehead dripped with sweat and veins pulsed against his skin, surging with a deep blue that Jeremy hadn’t seen before. As Jack called the ambulance, Jeremy focussed his attention on the pained boy in front of him. Gavin was still crying, sharp moans of fear and torment escaping between breaths. His face was pale, white as a sheet, and his grip had loosed considerably on his shirt. Jeremy grabbed his hand, squeezing.

“You’re doing really well, Gav. Just keep breathing.” His powers were honed in to every emotion his friend felt, no matter how sickening it was. He had to make sure they were still strong, that Gavin was still with them. Fear was coursing through his veins as he felt his emotions were fuzzier than usual. Gavin was no longer responding at all to them, instead continuing to hyperventilate and spurt rambles of nonsense in pain. He was semi-conscious at best, and it terrified Jeremy to his core.

“Can we pick up the pace?” He begged, looking at the boys either side of him. “He’s not doing so hot.”

“I’m doing… my fuckin… best here Jem,” Trevor shot between breaths, his whole body shaking with the strain of carrying a human. “This isn’t… easy.”

“Sorry.” He replied guiltily. “If you need me to carry him I can. Jack, is an ambulance on the way?”  
“They were already close, thankfully. They said they’ll meet us partway on the path.” Jack replied, still holding tight to the bandages on Gav’s wing. He was lucky to be tall, so it wasn’t a stretch for him to keep it elevated. “We’re nearly there. Couple hundred metres.”

They continued to sprint along the hiking track, ignoring their shaking legs and burning lungs and terrified hearts, determined to make sure Gavin was OK. He was looking paler by the second, and Jeremy tapped his face to attempt to get his attention.

“We’re nearly there, Gav. Just stay awake, OK?” He tapped him on the cheek, and his stomach dropped when Gavin didn’t flinch. “Gav? Gav? Come on, buddy, stay awake. Wake up.” He slapped his cheek harder, and bit his lower lip hard. Gavin’s head lolled to the side, white as a bedsheet and far less OK than Jeremy was hoping. Just as he was about to say something, a noise caught their attention.

“Hey! Hey! Over here!” A man wearing an ambulance uniform was waving them over further down the path, surrounded by bush rangers and people rolling a stretcher though. A wave of determination hit them, and they poured on the speed for the last dozen metres to the officers. Immediately there were professionals surrounding them, gently grabbing Gavin and supporting him and lifting him from the group’s grip. As he was moved to a stretcher, Trevor dropped to the ground, his chest heaving in air as if he had never breathed before. Veins were popped on his forehead, and his whole body shook. Not a moment more passed before his body tensed, and his head rolled to the side, vomiting against the ground in exertion. He put an arm on his head, feebly wiping away the sweat. A paramedic was by his side within seconds, scooping him up with ease and playing him on a second stretcher that was behind the first. Gavin was put into an ambulance in an instant, Trevor following for good measure, and the boys stood in exhaustion, relief, and shock in the events they had just encountered.

“We will meet you there.” A paramedic said to the boys, and Jeremy nodded slowly, watching the crew zoom away in the car faster than Geoff drove. Jeremy took this moment to fall onto his bottom in relief, and watched as Jack did the same.

“Fucking shit.” He mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face. “Holy fucking shit.”

Jack laughed lightly. “That’s the most exercise I’ve ever done. Fuck.”

“He’ll be OK, right?” Jeremy interjected, eyes full of worry as he looked up at Jack. “He’ll be alright, won’t he?”

“He’ll be fine.” Jack replied, wiping the sweat from his own forehead. “The bleeding had slowed immensely by the time we got him here, and thankfully the shot wasn’t too deep.”

“But he was unconscious-”

“From the fear, probably.” Jack reassured, rubbing Jeremy’s shoulder. “Most do. You did a really amazing job, Jeremy.”

Jeremy began to loosen with Jack’s gentle words and reassurance. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Jack brought Jeremy in for a hug, pulling him tight. “Are you OK?”

“I’m… shaken up, if I’m honest.” Jeremy replied into Jack’s shoulder, taking a moment to inhale and exhale deeply. “I’m scared, and I’m angry, and most of all I wish that it could’ve been me instead of Gav.”

“That’s understandable,” Jack replied, and slowly pulled away from the hug, cupping Jeremy’s face in his hands. “You don’t have to be scared, OK? Gavin is going to be just fine. The only real concerning thing is that he’s gonna be nagging us forever once he’s able to.”

Jeremy laughed at that, grateful for the sudden change of mood. “We’re gonna have to bring him smoothies, like, all the time, aren’t we?”

“God, we are too.”

Jack’s ears twitched, and he looked further up the path into the dense bush with keen eyes. A few seconds passed, before he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“I think Geoff’s doing a number on whoever shot Gav.” He winced, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “He better not cause any serious damage.” He typed Geoff’s number into the phone, before putting him on speaker phone to listen to it ring. It was about four rings in before Geoff picked up.

“Is Gavin OK? Has an ambulance come? Is everyone alright-”

“Everything’s OK, Geoff.” Jack interrupted, hearing Geoff sigh in relief. “Gav and Trev are already on their way to hospital, and we’ll head off in a second too.” He listened in the phone as the crackling sound of wind echoed through. “Are you coming with us?”

“Yeah, I’m already heading down now,” Geoff replied, and the wind sounds over the phone slowly dissipated.

“You didn’t… kill anyone, did you?” Jack asked hesitantly.  
“God no.” Geoff replied through the line. “Just gave them a fucking good scare and got the park rangers on ‘em. The cops are already on their way.”

“Good. Serves those cunts right.” Jeremy replied, anger in his voice. “What kind of sick freaks think it’s OK to shoot someone?!”

“I know. Dumbasses.”

Jack was about to reply when Geoff appeared behind them, hanging up the call and putting his phone in his pocket.

“How did you get here so fast?” Jeremy asked, pulling himself to his feet.

“Fuckers had a skateboard,” Geoff replied, holding a longboard beside him. “Wind and skateboards make for great transportation.” He fished around in his pockets before pulling out a set of keys. “Let’s go make sure Gav’s OK.”

~

They had barely made their way into the ER reception before a nurse approached the group, clipboard in hand and pen in the other. She looked at her clipboard, and her face flashed a bit of confusion, before she looked back up at the group and smiled.

“I take it you are the… _Achievement Hunters_?” She asked, and Jack nodded.

“Here for Gavin and Trevor.”

“Just this way.” She replied, and began leading them through into the hospital corridors. “The two of them are in a stable condition, and thankfully the doctors had no trouble stopping the bleeding. A… a…” She paused for a moment, picking her words, smiling guiltily. “A _vet_ is coming to put stitches on Gavin’s wing to ensure it is completed properly, since our doctors are not too well versed in the animal world.” She shot her head up. “A-and I mean that with no offence to your friend at all!”  
Jack chuckled, clearly calm and slightly amused. “That’s good thinking. Is he conscious?”  
“Yes, though he is on quite a bit of painkiller medication.” She replied, flicking through her notes. “The vet informed us that birds have an increased amount of nerves in their wings and the pain is greater in these areas, so we made sure to play it safe.”

Jack nodded understandingly, grateful that they were taking care of his friend. As they walked in silence for a few moments, he looked over at the other two lads. Geoff was walking with purpose, but there was clear worry and strain on his face. He cared a lot for Gavin, and often saw him as a younger brother or son, and there was always a desire to make sure he was safe. Jeremy was walking the same way, but there was fear etched into the creases of his face, and his skin was quite pale.

“Jerem, you OK?” He whispered to the shorter man, and Jeremy nodded solemnly.  
“Just, uh… hospitals are not the best place I’ve ever been.” His eyes made contact with Jack, and he swallowed. “A _lot_ of emotions, and a lot of negative ones. It’s hard to handle the sadness and fear that bombards places like these.”

Jack’s heart strained in sympathy for his friend. He hadn’t even thought of it. After a moment of thinking, he grabbed Jeremy’s hand and squeezed it tight, taking deep, calming breaths. “Being in contact with someone makes you feel a person’s emotions more intensely, right?”

“Yeah.” Jeremy replied, watching Jack’s eyes as he read Jack’s emotions from head to toe.

“Try focussing on mine as much as you can.” He took another calming breath. “Is that helping?”  
“Yeah.” Jeremy breathed, and Jack watched as he focussed, trying to notice only his friend’s emotions. His shoulders started slacking, and Jack felt relief, which helped his friend too.

They rounded another corner and stopped at a room suddenly, the nurse tapping on the door a few times as the group gathered around.

“The two are sharing a room. If you need me, press the assistance button.”

“Thank you.” Jack said, and they walked into the room.

Gav was pretty doped up when they entered. He was laid out on his bed, drip already in his arm. His eyes opened and closed slowly, and he sat staring at wall, spaced out. There was a second bed crammed against his own to house his wing, which sat in a strangely open position, covered in patches and bandages and small line which was giving him a blood transfusion. On the opposite side of them room sat Trevor, who looked over at the entry and waved tiredly. There were patches on his hands and a heart monitor sat around his finger.

“Hey guys,” Trevor said quietly.

“Hey Treh, how you feeling?” Jeremy asked gently, making his way into the room. Trevor was pale and shaky, but otherwise looked content.

“I’m fine.” He said earnestly, and smiled as Jeremy pulled him in for a hug. “Just pushed myself a bit far. My heart rate was spiking and I had popped a couple blood vessels so they were erring on the side of caution. Good nights rest should do, I think.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Jeremy exhaled, relieved.

“How about Gav?” Jack asked, as he and Geoff made their way over to Gavin’s bed.

“Loopy.” Trevor replied. “He was in a lot of pain so they doped him up pretty quickly. He’ll sleep well tonight.”  
“That he will.” Geoff agreed, and gently put his hand on Gav’s shoulder. “Hey buddy, how you doing?”

Gavin looked up at Geoff slowly, as if he was being filmed on his own channel in slow-motion. When he saw Geoff, his face softened.

“Geoffy,” He slurred, happily and showed a small lopsided smile. He looked so petit, and it filled Geoff with an indescribable bout of protectiveness for his friend. He could tell Jeremy sensed it, because he smiled too. Gavin held out his hand, and Geoff held onto it. “Am I okay?”

It pulled on Geoff’s heartstrings, and he nodded. “Yeah, buddy, you’re gonna be just fine. The nurse is gonna come and help you, and then we’ll be out of here in no time.”

“Oh, good,” He replied, and Geoff squeezed his hand. “Can you come play video games wif me when we get home?”

“We _all_ will,” Geoff smiled. “We can invite Michael, too.”

“My _boiiiii_ ,” Gavin mumbled gleefully. The boys chuckled, and Gavin yawned.

“I think it’s due time for a nap, hey Gav?” Jack asked, and Gavin nodded sleepily.

“Yes please.” He smiled gently, and Jeremy threw a small blanket over him to help him feel comfortable. Geoff run a thumb over the back of Gavin’s hand as he fell asleep, and the room fell into comfortable quietness.

The veterinary nurse arrived soon after, and busily got to work repairing Gavin’s wing. Though Gavin woke for it, there was no complaint from the brit, and he instead spent his time speaking in slow, slurred words about how cool it was that his mobile phone didn’t fall out of his pocket when he was flying. It made the lads laugh, and Jeremy was relieved that the chaos from earlier had faded into the past, that his friends were here and OK and cared-for and a hell of a lot better than he was anticipating them to be. And the nurse was faithful to her word. It was only 4 hours later when they were let out from hospital, a strict list of to-dos and to-nots, medication and bandaging. Gavin was still high as a kite, and him and Trevor were out like a light on the long drive home, heads resting on either shoulder of Jeremy, who was happily squished in the middle as the two boys softly snored. They made a pit stop at Gavin’s house, grabbing clothes and his toothbrush for him as he slept, then did the same for Trevor, neither boy stirring as they stopped and started, and eventually they made it back to base. To Geoff’s house. The gent had a few spare rooms, which would be fitting to keep an eye on the two injured lads, and it had plenty of couch space, which would be good for debriefing and video games. Jack scooped up Gavin and took him to a spare room, carefully laying his wing out with Geoff’s help. He did’t stir, but did snore enough for Geoff to chuckle, which Jack found comforting. Jeremy carried Trevor inside, who slept soundly in his arms, head lolled to the side as Jeremy made his way through to the second spare room. Jeremy pulled the covers over Trev, and left the side lamp on for when the boy awoke, knowing that he’d be overwhelmed and confused if he woke up in pitch black not knowing how he got there. Jeremy knew all too well what happened when Trevor was overwhelmed, and he didn’t want to run the risk of the boy using his telekinesis again for a while. They were chatting at the kitchen table for a while when Michael arrived, checking in on each of the lads, before going in to chill with Gavin, knowing the boy was calmest when next to the human heater.

The lads stayed up for a while longer together, chilling on the couch and sharing fun stories with each other to calm down after the storm. They put on a movie in the background as they sipped at tea, turning away from alcohol to cope with strength. Not surprisingly, Geoff tapped out first, feeling his eyes close and his head bob and deciding that was good indication he should head to bed. He had pushed his powers a _lot_ during the day too, and it was a surprise he had made it as late as he had. Jeremy and Jack put on a movie, enjoying the peace and quiet murmur of the TV. After a while, Jack looked over to Jeremy and saw the smaller man passed out against the couch, curled into the armrest like a small cat, mouth open as he snored silently. No wonder he was tired too. Reading negative emotions was draining. Jack could feel sleep calling him too, and decided it was a good time to head off to bed. Scooping up the snoozing boy in his arms, though not before taking a cute picture for Ryan, he deposited Jeremy in the final remaining guest room and made his way down the hall, turning off most of the lights in the house but leaving the dim ones on for guidance in case any of the lads got up. He went to turn off the TV, but thought better and left it on a channel with calming movies on, knowing that there was a chance one of them may need the distraction. Finally, he took one look at the couch and decided against it, instead heading to Geoff’s room and hopping in the other side, ditching the formalities - they had shared beds countless times anyway, and it was welcomed by either with welcome arms. He settled in and was out before he even got comfortable.

The house slept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack was the first up, unsurprisingly - he was normally an early riser, and today was no exception. After that, Geoff was up slowly, shuffling into the kitchen to help Jack make some blueberry pancakes to feed the always hungry group that would soon be getting up. After that, Jeremy made an appearance, putting on come chill beats to waft through the house as he got plates out and turned the kettle on. About a half hour later, Michael poked his head in to say good morning as he went to the bathroom, but chose to go back to bed with Gav to make sure he was there when the brit awoke.

Trevor was up by 8:30, though still looking very tired - there were dark bags under his eyes and his bandaged fingers trembled with exhaustion. Still, he eagerly accepted pancakes, and found himself coming to life a bit more with some food in his stomach. The lads chilled and chatted for a while, enjoying a lazy, slow morning together, one which they hadn’t experienced in a while. Though not everyone from the group was present, and the circumstances weren’t great, it was nice.

Gavin woke from the pain, eyes fluttering open when his wing screamed at him for the tenth minute in a row. He moaned, rubbing his face with his hands groggily, before feeling a warm hand squeeze his own. He looked over tiredly to see Michael’s caring expression looking at him, and Gavin smiled in gentle relief.

“Hey, boi.” Michael mumbled softly, rubbing the back of Gav’s hand with his thumb. “You doin’ OK? How you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Gavin replied honestly, his voice hoarse and cracking from the sleep and strain of yesterday. He winced when his wing sharply reminded him of why he was here, and Michael rubbed Gav’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Not fun stuff, Gav. How ‘bout we get some breakfast into you so you can take some painkillers, hey?” He smiled softly and Gavin nodded in response, grateful for the help that Michael gave to sit him up. He had slept well for sure, but there was still a heavy fatigue pulling at his whole body, his eyelids heavy arms and legs like lead. But slowly he stretched, popping his shoulders and spine and wishing he could do the same to his wings. They were stiff, and Gavin watched as he carefully moved his wing.

“Not too much, Gav.” Michael reminded, and helped support the sleepy boy as he stood on his feet. “Geoff’ll give you a rundown on what you can and can’t do, but you have to keep it pretty still for it to heal.”

“Ugh, yeah, I will. I’m just bloody glad I still have a wing.” Gavin replied, and they shuffled into the living room.

“Gav!” Jack chortled happily when he entered the room, walking over and ever-so-gently pulling him into a signature Jack hug, carefully avoiding the wing but chucking when he melted into the embrace. “Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy. Let’s get some breakfast into you.”

“And some painkillers, please.” He winced, feeling the sharp stabbing of his wing. “Bloody hell, this hurts.”

“I’m not surprised.” Geoff replied, empathy on his face. “You had a big day yesterday.” A small silence befell the room, and Geoff clapped his hands. “What’s important is that you are OK. And up in time for pancakes!”

The room chuckled, and enjoyed breakfast and tea and gentle chatter. Gav took his meds without any complaint whatsoever, and the lads opted to chill on the couch and play video games rather than do anything yet. Gav fell asleep within the hour, flopping on Michael and rendering the boy incapable of movement, which led to an indescribable amount of photos being taken of the two of them. Trevor chose to watch the game shenanigans instead of playing them himself, finding that his fingertips hurt too much to press buttons because of the burns from his powers. But, all in all, they were OK. And when it got to the late morning, the rest of the crew came to chill as well, taking good care of Gav and Trev and the boys, chuckling and smiling and making for a good recovery day. After all was said and done, Michael took Gav back to his place to take care of him some more, and Alfredo refused to let Trevor do anything by himself, heading back to Trev’s place with him to stay the night. Ryan and Jeremy streamed for a while together, and Jack spent the night at Geoff’s again, enjoying his companion’s company for another night.

Life returned to normal, or at least as much as it could for Achievement Hunter. :)

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!!!! Please feel free to give writing tips on how to improve! Pls be soft tho i am baby uwu


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